Product Overview

Popular cheerleader Nina Deer's (Elisha Cuthbert) seemingly unblemished suburban world is turned upside down when her parents (Edie Falco and Martin Donovan) adopt their recently orphaned goddaughter Dot (Camilla Belle). Dot's arrival delivers a blow to Nina's idyllic social life and triggers the unraveling of the family's darkest secrets.

Both Nina's family and friends, including the school hunk Connor (Shawn Ashmore), develop an odd fascination with Dot and confide in her their troubling secrets. Dot quietly shoulders the burdens and secrets of those around her, while continuing to hold what is perhaps the biggest secret -- her own.

Directed by Jamie Babbit (But I'm a Cheerleader), The Quiet is about family secrets, friendship, trust and betrayal. Through Nina's eyes, Babbit takes us on an emotional rollercoaster ride -- through the hilarious and often crude interactions of high schools students and a family where happy faces disguise ugly truths.

Reviews

ReviewSource

Reel.com

Review

Though The Quiet is being distributed by Sony Pictures' artier Classics division, with a few marketing tweaks, it could just as easily be released by one of the studio's more mainstream arms. It's got many of the elements that made twisted teen touchstones like Carrie and Heathers work so well, even if its approach is slightly more clunky and operatic. No matter how dark or "indie" director Jamie Babbit and screenwriters Abdi Nazemian and Micah Schraft may go, the film's nubile cheerleaders, virginal outcasts, and horny jocks would seem more at home on a MySpace webpage than a tony film festival poster. In fact, The Quiet's attractive young cast, erotically charged dialogue, and occasional chills make the movie a whole lot kickier than might be expected.

ReviewDate

ReviewPage

Reviewer

Gary Goldstein

ReviewRating

8

ReviewSource

ReelViews

Review

The Quiet is a psychological thriller from director Jamie Babbit (But I'm a Cheerleader) that takes viewers to darker places than those to which one is typically transported in movies of this sort. The subject matter includes four kinds of abuse: physical, emotional, sexual, and substance. All of the main characters have secrets and/or engage in manipulation, and there's a lot going on in the unpredictable currents beneath the surface. The production is not without weaknesses - there are times when the proceedings become too lurid and the denouement feels unnecessarily protracted - but overall this is a compelling and sometimes disturbing motion picture...For those who don't mind thrillers with darker, serious underpinnings, The Quiet is worth a trip to a theater.